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Thursday, 18 September 2014

In 2012 we travelled to Kenya and Tanzania. When we were driving from Arusha to the Serengetti I remembered the story of how the guns of the cruiser Koenigsberg were taken from the ship and distributed to various German units in German East Africa. My imagination soon began to run away and I as we drove along I gathered ideas for wargames terrain in the rich farmlands.

Some snapshots of the terrain in Tanzania between Arusha and the Ngorongoro, perhaps 60kms west of the battlefield near Taveta in 1916 and near where the Wintgens-Naumann raid passed in 1917.

On my return home I purchased Edward Paice's book "Tip and Run" and developed the idea more, but it only remained conceptual. When a friend of mine gave me a batch of painted Sikh infantry for my birthday, my interest was further piqued, but still iIdid not progress the idea - mainly because the Russo-Japanese project (followed by the Early WWI project) got in the way and the Sikhs remained in their box. But now in mid-September, while I wait for my next order from Northstar - three weeks and counting - and with everything cleared from the painting tray (well almost cleared), I decided to base up those Sikhs. Here is the result.

This, combined with the fun we had with our recent 1914 and 1918 games, has got me keen. I can see a few command figures, a gun and an HMG team coming soon...

Monday, 15 September 2014

I have always written my own wargames rules. This started way back in the early days of my obsession and was forged by necessity. You see my first set of wargames rules was "Charge! or How to Play Wargames" by Brigadier Young and Colonel Lawford and the problem was that those rules were for the Seven Years War, but my interest was in American Civil War, so adaption was the necessity.I did use some commercial rules back in the early 1980s - mainly the WRG Horse and Musket rules - so that I would have some opponents in club games. But ever since my involvement in club gaming diminished in the mid-1980s, self-written rules have been the norm.

Like all sets of rules mine are pieced from many sources and ideas, but nearly always they can trace their roots back to the days of Featherstone, Grant, Young or Gilder. My rules concepts have pretty much settled now and involve a couple of key modules that can be modified to suit the period. I have used a version of the activation table that has a faint similarity to the original Fire and Fury, I have used a hit and save method for all types of combat - both firing and close combat - and a very simple army morale.

Anyone who has ever gamed with me will probably tell you that my ideas change like the weather, which is probably true, because I am rarely satisfied with the way things work out. But then again my rules are not for publication.

I make my living in the aviation publishing sector and have realised that certain key elements in this medium can be applied to wargames rules. In aviation we use two publications to fly airplanes. One is the operating manual, that contains all of the normal procedures together with descriptions of all the aircraft systems. The other is the Quick Reference Handbook (QRH) that contains all the non-normal procedures. Pilots rarely use the operations manual in flight but nearly always use the QRH because it contains everything they need to know for general operations in one place as a series of checklists.

So I have applied this QRH concept to my rules. For most periods of play I operate eight standard checklists The checklists are:

By following the logic of the checklists, the player is led easily through the game turn, providing all of the basic information required. These two examples from the Crimean War QRH are the checklists for activation and firing.

I have found that with a few minor tweaks the rules can easily be adapted for almost any period of play between the English Civil War the Franco-Prussian War. With even greater adaption they can be used for 20th Century gaming, and we have successfully used then for WWI and Russo-Japanese War.

Wednesday, 10 September 2014

This the last day of our magnificent event for another year. As tradition would have it this day's game would be a naval game. This time it would be ironclads from 1866 - Austro-Hungarian against Italian.

With breakfast consumed and gear packed for the return home we set up for play.

On the Austrain side there were 11 ships, seven ironclads, one wooden ship of the line, two frigates and a gunboat, while the Italians had eight ironclads and two wooden frigates.

For the next three hours these ships swirled around two small rocky outcrops in the Adriatic blasting and ramming each other at short range.

In the end the honours were even. Each side lost two ironclads and one wooden ship. Both sides were deemed to have withdrawn to lick their wounds.

Then it was time to pack the table away, pack the last things into the cars and have lunch. Then our great week of gaming was all over - what took ten months to prepare for was over in what seemed like no time at all.

Once again, after a hearty breakfast we headed up to the garage for the first game of the day, a scenario set in Belgium in 1914. The rules for this game were that it had to be finished by 12:20 so that we could play the late war game in the afternoon.

The Belgians were already deployed in the town. The British were advancing up the road that led southwest and the French were just appearing on the Charleroi road (that ran south from the town). The German players had made their plans the evening before and were ready to move onto the table. At 08:30 we started the game.

The Belgians in the town, the HMG behind the barricade

The Germans chose to bring two companies, supported by a section of artillery and two HMGs, from the east of the town on the lower road and the third, supported by two HMGs and two batteries on call from the north of the town. At the same time the German jagers and uhlans, supported by a jager HMG deployed near the farm house.

The Belgian guide cavalry, deployed forward on the hill east of the town, rode forward dismounted and engaged the Germans approaching from the east, while Major Poirot went in search of fuel for the armoured car.

The German infantry advance from the east

Captain Hastings, with the British column marched quickly up the road but were halted abruptly when the cavalry, that was leading the column, came under rifle fire from the Germans north of the town. The French dragoons meanwhile, entered the town along with Captaine Legrand in his taxi.

The British guns deploy to cover the infantry advance

West of the town the Germans became tied up with the Guides and a platoon of French infantry, that were soon joined by the section of French artillery.

The Germans attempted to call their off table artillery, but failed to get a response.

Poirot finally found the fuel for the armoured car and refuelled it. But when he finally prompted Charles to get moving. The German artillery rained down on the road. The Armoured car bogged in a shell hole.

German guns shell the allied positions

Meanwhile the British infantry was caught by the Germans advancing from the north and fell back under fire. When a messenger to Poirot was told that British help was not needed, Hastings began to withdraw to take up skirmishing with the uhlans and jagers.

The British move against the jägers and uhlans

The British take position, with the cavalry HMG in the centre

Finally Charles’ armoured car broke free of the shell holes and drove off the table, ending the game in the Allied favour.

We quickly stripped the table of all its hedges, trees and intact buildings, replacing the buildings with their ruined equivalents and the woods with destroyed woods, ready for the 1918 game. The difference between two terrains was incredible.

The table for the afternoon game

The ruined town

The scenario for the afternoon had four German companies, including one of storm troopers, defending the ruined village against a combined Anglo-French force, supported by tanks. Both sides had air cover.

The British advanced from the south west while the French advanced north. The French advance stalled almost immediately and ground to a complete halt when their only tank, an FT17 was destroyed by German gunfire. To make matters worse for the French, their only aircraft was shot down by rifle and light machinegun fire.

The British pressed boldly through the destroyed woods, pressing their Whippet tank in front.

Above, the British advance and below the British gins engage

The British brought on their aircraft and the Germans countered by bringing theirs on. The two pilots managed to avoid each other and concentrated on making some ground attacks.

The aircraft swirl around

The British infantry attempted to assault the town but were bloodily repulsed.

The Germans in the town

At the same time the Whippet attempted to drive through the German infantry north of the town, but bogged as it tried to cross the last obstacle.

The Whippet moves to attack, but bogs, then...

...breaks through the German line

The German anti-tank gun tried in vain to take out the British tank before it unbogged, but when the tank finally did free itself, it rolled over the infantry to its front and threatened the town from the north.

Here the game ended.

We cleared the table and retired to the house for wine, Calvados, a filllet of beef, great conversation and DVDs.

This day is set to play two WWI games; one set in 1914 and the second set in 1918. I organised the early war game, and was scheduled for the morning.

Since I prepared it, I will give the full details of the 1914 scenario here in Part One, then follow with the description of the game in Part 2.

1914 Briefings

General Situation

It is July 1914. Germany has declared war on Russia. France has declared war on Germany and Germany has declared war on France and Belgium, and has invaded Luxembourg.

On the morning of 4 August 4th, while Britain declared war on Germany, six German infantry brigades advanced against Liege, where General Leman’s Belgian Third Infantry Division and a few disconnected brigades stood. The initial German attacks were repulsed, but when the Germans brought up their 420mm ‘Big Bertha’ guns they began to take out one Belgian battery after another. On 16 August the last of the Belgian forts surrendered.

In the meantime the other four divisions of the Belgian Army fell back from the Frontier towards Antwerp and Brussels. The first elements of the British Expeditionary Force arrived in France on 12 August and began to assemble near Maubeuge forming the link between the French and Belgian Armies.

On 17 August the German army set the Schlieffen Plan in motion. By mid-day on the 17th the first patrols were approaching their next objective, Namur.

It is here that our story begins.

The map of the game table

Belgian Briefing

You are Major André Poirot, brother to the famed detective and ADC to General Ruldet commanding the Fifth Infantry Division. On 15 August you were ordered to proceed forward in the direction of Liege, with the purpose of securing and escorting to safety Archduke Charles, cousin to King Albert and fourth in line to the Belgian throne. Charles had been in Liege when the war broke out.

You met up with Charles and his entourage on the evening of the 16th at a village between Namur and Liege. Despite the seriousness of the situation Charles was remarkably cavalier. He has commandeered an armoured car, loaded it with personal booty, and had delighted at taking pot shots with the vehicle’s machine gun at German cavalry patrols. On the 17th you escorted the Archduke through Namur heading west. But progress was difficult and Charles insisted on pausing for lunch at one of his favourite bistros in the town. As you were ready to depart German patrols we seen near the walls of the fortress. Again Charles insisted in opening fire on them from the armoured car. Only after strenuous efforts did you manage to prevent him from driving forward in search of fresh targets. You lost several of your men in this absurd action.

Progress west was slow because the roads were choked with refugees and you halted for the night of the 17th in the village of Deux Fesses, mid-way between Namur and Charleroi, at the home of one of Charles’ school friends. Concerned that you might be overtaken you advised headquarters of the situation, requesting assistance.

On the morning of the 18th you struggled to get Charles’ party out of bed and ready to move, after a heavy night. When he was finally ready German cavalry was spotted to the west, squarely across the road by which your retreat was to pass. Then to make matters worse Charles’ armoured car wouldn’t start – it was out of fuel.

Charles refused to leave the car (along with its stock of champagne and other booty) and insisted that you find fuel for it.

Your objectives:

Exit along the Charleroi road with as much of tour force intact as possible

• The Allied force will earn ten victory points for every Belgian platoon, squadron or HMG team that exits the table at a strength greater than half

• Twenty victory points are earned if the Charles survives (less 5 if he is wounded)

Order of battle:

• One infantry company (3 platoons of line infantry, each 4 stands)

• One platoon of Guides (4 stands) (mounted and dismounted)

• Charles’ personal armoured car, with HMG

• 1 HMG team, with dog carts

You may lay up to 1,200mm of barbed wire entanglements.

French Briefing

You are Capitaine Etienne Le Grand, great grandson of the famous Napoleonic general (famous in our gaming terms if not in reality). You command, 2nd Company, Third Battalion, 129e Régimént de Ligne operating near the Belgian border in mid-August.

Not only have you inherited your great grandfather’s name, but also his love for collecting antiquities. With much of the Belgian countryside abandoned by the general populace, the opportunities for an antiquities collector like you are ripe. And if you don’t take advantage you know that the Germans certainly will, right?

On the evening of August 17 your battalion commander orders you to advance on Deux Fesses, a village mid-way between Namur and Charleroi, where a small Belgian force accompanying an important Belgian diplomat is holed up and has requested assistance to flee the pursuing Germans. You are to move on the town with sufficient force to protect their withdrawal.

You can’t believe your luck because you know that in that village lives Albert Bertrand, a well known antiquities collector and friend of the Belgian Royal family. Bertrand is known to hold the very rare and valuable painting “The Fallen Madonna” by von Klomp, that would fill that vacant space in the ballroom of the le Grand family home.

You set off at 0400 hrs and at around 0900 you are approaching Deux Fesses.

Your objectives:

• Make contact with the Belgians

• Assist the Belgians to exit the table west along the Charleroi Road

• The Allied force will earn ten victory points for every Belgian unit that exits the table at a strength greater than half

• Twenty victory points are earned if the diplomat survives (less 5 if he is wounded)

• You can claim a personal victory if you locate and secure the von Klomp painting and survive the game.

You are Captain Arthur Hastings, ADC to Brigadier General Hamilton, commanding 3rd Division, operating in southern Belgium. On the evening of 17 August you were called to HQ and ordered to take a scratch force towards the village of Deux Fesses, mid way between Namur and Charleroi. A small Belgian force accompanying an important Belgian diplomat is there and has requested assistance to flee the pursuing Germans.

You set off at 0400 hrs and at around 0900 you are approaching Grosses Fesses

Your objectives:

• Make contact with the Belgians

• Assist the Belgians to exit the table west along the Charleroi Road

• The Allied force will earn ten victory points for every Belgian unit that exits the table at a strength greater than half

• Twenty victory points are earned if the diplomat survives (less 5 if he is wounded)

Order of battle:

• One infantry company (4 platoons, each 4 stands)

• One HMG

• One troop of 17th Lancers (4 stands) (mounted and dismounted)

• One cavalry HMG

•1 section of artillery (2 guns)

German Senior Officer Briefing

You are Hauptman Albert Hans “Hansi” Burkhalter commanding 3rd Company, First Battalion 105th Infantry Regiment and, in the absence of the battalion major, commanding the battalion. You are leading the division in the advance on Charleroi where you are to secure the rail yards.

During the 17th you have been skirmishing with a mixed force of Belgians. They appear to be remarkably well equipped and are accompanied by an armoured car that they seem to be willing to use with a recklessness unexpected of Belgians. As the day progresses a report is received from Divisional HQ citing rumours that Archduke Charles, 4th in line to the Belgian throne, is with this group of Belgians. Securing Charles would be a coup for the division.

As night fell, fearing that the Belgians could get away, you asked if cavalry could be despatched to see if it was possible to get ahead of the Belgians, to try to cut them off.

At dawn reports came back from the cavalry that they had succeeded in getting ahead of the Belgians, who are holed up in the village of Deux Fesses, mid way between Namur and Charleroi.

You will provide instructions to your two subordinate commanders, Hauptmans Rottenkoff and Grossblädder

Your objectives:

• Exit as many units as possible off the table along the Charleroi Road

• You will earn ten victory points for each company above half strengh that achieve this

• Capture or destroy the Belgian force

• You will earn ten points for each Belgian platoon, vehicle or MG captured

The umpire plays Lieutenant Wolfgang Klinkelpopper commanding 1st Platoon, 2nd Squadron,15th Uhlans, 6th Cavalry Division. On the evening of 17 August he has received the following orders from his squadron commander:

“The infantry of the vanguard has requested assistance in arresting the retreat of a Belgian contingent near the village of Deux Fesses. You are to take your platoon, together with a platoon of jãgers and their accompanying machine gun, and pass around the Belgians and block the road to Charleroi. Caution is to be taken. Your goal is to delay the easterly progress of the Belgians. You are to avoid any serious engagement that is not to your advantage. If pressed you should withdraw slowly, continuing to threaten the enemy.”

Unattached - although not technically part of the command, the umpire will fire them during the game

• One field battery (6 stands each) - off table

• One howitzer battery (6 stands) – off table

The Table

The table measured 4.8 metres by 2 metres. Central to the game was the town of Grosses Fesses a small town of sixteen houses surrounding a central square, amid rolling hills and hedged fields. Five roads led to the town and four small wood lots were nearby.

Tuesday, 9 September 2014

With bellies full of bacon, eggs, toast and jam we went up to the garage for the third game of thw week - British against the Afghans on the Northwest Frontier.

I was one of three groups of Afghans fighters resisting the advance of a British punitive column on a mountain town. The terrain was set so that there were two defiles running half the length of the table through which the British had to advance. It was also obvious, because there was a third player that had not deployed on the table, that a third British column would arrive at some time. We chose to defend from the high ground and set out warbands up out of sight of the evil British.

Looking up the table at the two defiles from the mountain town.

The British advanced in two columns, as we expected, with the Indian and Gurkha troops on the left (supported by mountain guns and machine guns) and the naval troops on the right (with more mountain guns and Gatling guns supporting).

The marines were the first troops engaged at the far end of the right hand defile and easily drove off our brave fighters. They quickly established themselves on the spur, while their Gatling guns, mountain guns and sailors pressed up the defile.

On the left the Indians and Gurkhas formed up and advanced adainst the wood at the end of the defile.

The Indians and Gurkhas pressed forward

Our heroesoffered fierce resistance but were eventually forced to give up the wood and fall back up the defile. At this time my mounted riflement made an appearance hoping to draw the British further up the defile, but they refused to take the bait.

The Afghan cavalry show themselves

The British continued to press up both defiles, taking fire on both sides as they went. On the right the British pushed to the end of the heights above the town. Here they met fierce resistance from our troops in a redoubt. When we counterattacked, the marines were routed.

The warriors on the right blocked the road with overturned wagons and a rockfall, which they defended fiercely.

Our heroes defending the roadblock

On the left the British advanced boldly, boosted by the arrival of the third column of British infantry, cavalry and field artillery. Our fighters resisted strongly but the British artillery and machine guns took their toll. Three bands of our fighters made a desperate last stand on the rearmost part of the centre heights, but the British guns cut them to pieces.

The last stand on the heights

My cavalry rode about by the town hoping that the British would come into the open ground where we had an advanage.

But the British refused to come forward deploying their mountain guns in the newly captured heights instead. When the barricade in the right hand defile fell and the brave fighters were driven from their redoubt on the far right, the writing was on the wall. We Afghans ceded the fight, retreating to fight another day.

My game was to be fought the next day, so after the table was stripped of the desert cloth, we set up the table and ran the briefings before drinks, dinner and DVDs.

Monday, 8 September 2014

After a hearty breakfast we made our way to the garage for the next game, this time set during the Crusades.

The game was split into two parts; one in the morning, the other in the afternoon, around a central theme - a Crusader siege of a Saracen castle.

The morning game was based around an attempt by the Saracens to relive the siege and was set in fairly open desert terrain some distance from the castle. The Saracens had three wings, one (forming their left wing) comprising of primarily light troops, a second (in the centre) made up of medium cavalry and infantry and the third (on the right) a mixed force. Opposing them was a powerful Crusader force of four units of knights, two of sergeants, some heavy infantry, crossbowmen and archers. The Crusaders were also divided into three battles.

The battle commenced with two flank wings of the Saracens attempting to envelop the Crusaders. The Crusaders needed to do little more than hold the line, let the Saracens take all the risks. The Saracens obliged and on the left moved to make the first contact. Their light cavalry skirmished with the Knights of St John, drawing them forward until they charged. The horse archers, evaded and shot down several of the knights. Over the next couple of turns the Knights were drawn into a trap where they were slowly destroyed, as were other units of the Crusader right. But the action here was draining for both sides and the two wings eventually came to a standstill.

The battle line from the Crusader side.

On the Crusader left the Saracen advance was soon halted and the Crusaders pushed hard against them. The Saracens struck back with a concerted attack, but were halted and driven back.

The charge of the knights in the Crusader's centre

In the centre the Crusaders slowly pressed forward until finally they were able to charge. The Saracens, badly mauled finally collapsed and were driven off, ending this attempt to raise the siege.

The second, the afternoon, game was the assault of Crusaders against the castle. The players were reversed so that I, who played Crusaders in the morning, now played Saracens.

The Saracens wait inside the castle walls.

The Crusaders were equipped with a ram, a siege tower and a number of catapults. Against one wall they hurled rocks from the catapults, while at the same time a path was made for the ram and the tower. The tower reached the wall first, the ramp was lowered and the first assaulting party stormed onto the walls.

The first Crusaders make it onto the walls

At almost the same time the catapults made a breach, while on the other wall the Crusaders mounted the wall on their scaling ladders.

The wall is breached

Finally the wall was shattered by the ram. The Saracens fought valiantly but could were overwhelmed and the casle fell.

The ram finally breaks through

Meanwhile at the other end of the table another Saracen force arrived and attempted too raise the siege, but was easily driven off.

The relief force fails to break through.

The game over we returned to the house for drinks and snacks while the next game was set up. After a breifing for the next game, dinner and DVDs followed.

We arrived at Lake Tarawera on the Tuesday afternoon. The first task was to clear space in the garage and set up the table. Then, as the first game organiser was setting up his terrain, the open fire was lit, dinner was put in the oven and the first bottle of wine was opened. Before dinner a briefing was given to each player for the first game, then we settled into an evening of good food, good wine and DVDs. Play was scheduled to commence at 0900.

The first game was a Napoleonic battle with a Russo-Prussian force attacking a Franco-Bavarian force. The game was played across the table, which measured 4.8 metres by 2 metres. Looking from the Russo-Prussian side, the left hand portion of the table, extending roughly one metre in from the left hand edge, was separated from the rest of the table by a river crossed by two bridges. Moving right, on the opposite side of the table, about half way between the river and the right hand edge of the table stood a large town, which was the significant objective in the game. To the right of the town and extending to the right hand table edge was a line of woods.

The Prussians (two brigades and a battery) deployed to the left the river while the Russians (two brigades, two batteries and a cavalry brigade) deployed on the right. The French (two brigades, one cavalry brigade and a battery) and Bavarians (two brigades, one cavalry brigade and two batteries) were to the left and right of the town, respectively. I commanded the Prussians.

The Prussians preparing to cross the river

The action developed quickly. The Prussians were quick to establish a bridgehead, but it would take them quite some time to get all their forces across the river and deployed.

In the meantime the Russians formed for the attack and rapidly approached the town that the Bavarians were beginning to occupy.

The Bavarians occupy the town

Desperate to hold the Russians back until their main forces could form up. A regiment of French lancers lunged at their Russian counterparts. The Russian troopers reacted and counter charged, but lost the melee and tumbled back past others in the brigade, shaking them on the process. When the lancers struck a second Russian cavalry unit on the breakthrough, two thirds of the Russian cavalry was in rout. The Russians then charged the pursuing French lancers and put them to flight, but a single French cavalry unit had forced the Russians to commit all of their cavalry and given them time to form their infantry lines.

The left of the Russian advance

The position on the Russian left after the rout of the Russian cavalry

In the meantime the Prussians had crossed the bridges and formed for battle. They were formed in two parts, with one brigade in front of each of the bridges. The brigade in front of the upper bridge deployed unopposed on its objective, the road that ran off the table at that point. The other brigade found itself in an awkward position deploying in two small woods and in the small gap between them. At that very moment five battalions of Polish infantry arrived and charged the Prussians. The Poles drove through a Prussian battery and put two battalions to flight. A breakthrough drove off another Prussian battalion, before the Prussians were able to consolidate and drive the Poles off, although one Polish battalion managed to sustain itself in one of the woods for quite some time.

The Poles commence their advance on the Prussians

On the Russian front the left of the line continued to engage the French, but were getting the worst of it, while the Russians on the right were slowly driving the Bavarians from the woods to the right of the town.

As night fell the Russians held onto the woods on the right, but could not push any further, while the Franco-Bavarians held the town. What decided the action was that Prussians were consolidated on their objective – the road that dominated the Franco-Austrian line of communications.

The Prussians secure the position on the Franco-Bavarian line of communications

With the battle ended we retired to the house to light the fire, prepare the food and pour the wine, while the next game was set up. Again before dinner, and before the effects of wine had a detrimental effect, the briefing for the Thursday game was given.

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About Me

I have been involved in historical wargaming since 1972, co-founding the Auckland Wargaming Club in 1974 and was for 15 years involved in the "industry" in a business that eventually became Battlefront Miniatures.
My main focus is on the mid-19th Century and I now collect in only two scales: 28mm for all land based gaming and 1:600 for mid-19th century naval gaming.
My philosophy for gaming is:
- Play games with people whose company I enjoy
- The game must be true to the period
- The games must be visually attractive – both the armies and terrain
- The end result doesn’t matter - games must be fun.